Anytime a book gets really hyped up, I get excited, yet cynical. Most of the time, I end up fairly disappointed in the novel, probably because I went into it with expectations as high as Lindsay Lohan. Yet, The Thirteenth Tale left me very happy. It hooked me in from the start and just proceeded to get better and better with every page I turned.
It’s a simple enough plot—Margaret Lea, a biographer, is called to write down the life story of Vida Winter, an aging best-selling author who has always previously lied in interviews she has given. She has finally decided, on her deathbed, to tell her tale. And what a tale it is. Full of romance, mystery, murder and betrayal, the story is amazing. It’s an old-fashioned tale with intrigue that doesn’t depend on special effects, blood, or superpowers, but on fascinating characters and brilliant plot points. Jane Eyre plays a large role in the book and for good reason—this is a novel that follows the Bronte tradition.
The Thirteenth Tale did let me down a teensy bit in the ending, but most books do. It’s very hard to get a satisfying ending to a book you enjoy so much and this one left me wanting. Ah well….perhaps Setterfield’s next book will have to fill that void. Believe it or not, this was her first novel. Call me officially impressed!
Final Verdict: Shakespeare

This book was hyped up like crazy. And as usual when that happens, I wasn’t thrilled. The novel is a solid piece of writing and while I enjoyed various parts, I felt a few others didn’t quite work and some clichés were simply overused.
The novel starts off with David and Norah Henry driving to the hospital. She is pregnant and about to give birth. Because of an awful storm, they don’t make it and get to David’s practice instead (he’s a doctor.) With the help of a nurse named Caroline Gill, he delivers his wife’s babies: a healthy boy and a girl he sees has Down’s Syndrome. It’s 1964, and he decides it would be better to put the girl in an institution so he passes her to Gill and tells his wife the girl does. This sets in motion a series of events including Gill not giving the girl up but raising her as her own, and Norah and David drifting apart through the years because of this big secret.
The major problem I had with the book are the characters. I was never able to fully like David and Norah was just annoying. Caroline Gill and Phoebe (the daughter) were the only ones that seemed real and likeable to me. I’m not sure if I was just being silly because perhaps they weren’t meant to be likeable but I have a hard time fully enjoying a novel unless I feel some sort of sympathy for the characters.
That said, the writing here is beautiful and there were several fantastic passages. This is an author to expect more great things from.
Final Verdict: half Atwood, half Marlowe

This was the perfect book for me to read on the plane coming home from Toronto recently. I had started it earlier and felt myself get sucked right in. As an avid reader of US Weekly and celeb gossip websites, this fun frothy novel was right up my alley. And it really helped keep me distracted from my ever-present fear that the plane would crash.
It’s about Sadie Price, a paparazzi, one who stalks celebrities to get those lovely glossy photos we enjoy of them doing things like picking their nose or getting a slushy. She ends up picking on the wrong celeb, Ethan Wyatt, who decides to give her a taste of her own medicine and starts stalking her right back, planting a story in the tabloids that Sadie is dating another famous actor.
Soon, she can’t leave her house without being hounded but the press and starts to realize the effect her job has on people. There are also some side plotlines about her friends and her mother that add quite nicely to the main event.
Accidental It Girl is a book you’ll read in a few days and forget about soon enough, but it will have kept you engrossed and busy and entertained for a little while. Perfect.
Final Verdict: Emily Giffin

The most entertaining books are the ones with interesting characters. Mark Haddon first won me over with his autistic protagonist in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time and so I knew he knows how to create memorable characters. He’s done it again in his new novel, this time, with an entire family.
George Hall is a quiet, simple man, who lives his retired life by building things in the garden and having tea with his wife. Until one day, he notices a lesion on his thigh and is convinced it is cancer. He ends up having a bit of a breakdown just in time for his daughter’s wedding to a man the family doesn’t like. I don’t want to give anything else away here, as part of the fun of the book is finding out what lunacies this family gets up to next. Let’s just say they’re all completely messed up in their own way.
Haddon has the gift of being able to craft a story that is both touching and hilarious at the same time. He uses simple language but that doesn’t make his writing any less poetic than some fool who hits shift+F7 all the time to come up with bigger and bigger words. This was a thoroughly enjoyable novel that kept me hooked from the get-go although I have to give the edge to the Curious Dog book for fave Haddon novel. That book was so utterly original and unlike anything I’d ever read before, it will be tough to top. But I’m very content for Haddon to keep trying because this was a book I will remember for a while.
Final Verdict: Margaret Atwood

I am a music nut. I couldn’t live without it. It’s on all the time in my house, car and classroom as I teach. I am constantly using music in my lessons and firmly believe that it helps us learn. And now I have a book to prove I am right (I love when that happens!)
There is a strong proclivity for science theory books to be dry and boring. Thankfully several exist that aren’t and here is one. Although there are a few moments of confusion, for the most part, Levitin’s writing is sharp and witty. The book contains information on cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and the evolution of the brain. Levitin tells us how our brain absorbs music and why we have emotional responses to it.
I was utterly absorbed here and not just because I’m a music freak. Okay maybe a little. But who doesn’t have a freaking Ipod hooked into their ear all the time nowadays?
Final Verdict: Margaret Atwood

How to even begin here? I loved this book. I loved everything about it—the characters, the story, the moral and the fact that it can be enjoyed by all ages. They’re making a movie of it so I’m trying to get as many people to read it before it comes out and is a huge hit and then everyone is reading it with the movie in their head like Harry Potter. But I digress…
Despereaux is a tiny mouse with a huge heart. He ends up on an adventure trying to save Princess Pea, who has been kidnapped by the evil rat Roscuro. Kate DiCamillo is the author of several children’s books including Because of Winn-Dixie, that always teach a wonderful lesson. This is a story about bravery, love and forgiveness. It’s simply written but full of wonderful descriptive words to put the pictures right in your head (so please read it before the movie comes out and get your own pictures!) The illustrations are also worth a mention for their originality and depth.
Final Verdict: Harry Potter

Talk about your overrated crap. I was super-excited to read this novel after all the great reviews I’d heard and seeing the previews for what seemed like it was going be one kics-ass movie. Talk about a disappointment.
It’s as if the entire book just keeps trying to out-gross itself. From the dysfunctional family relationships, to the sexual abuse (sorry, but that’s what it was to me), and eventual poo humour, this book got worse and worse as I read. I like dark humour, don’t get me wrong, but this wasn’t even funny. Apparently many, many people disagree with me, but I don’t give a dried up poop. I haven’t even seen the movie but I lost my desire to after reading the book. Hopefully it’s one of the super-rare cases where it’s better than the book.
To give some sort of positive, Burroughs does have a knack for the written word and would probably write a very good novel. As long as he stays away from the ridiculous world that he apparently lived through. Not to say he’s a liar, since I’m sure there are messed up people like this in the world but man, would I never want anyone to know if I was him.
Final Verdict: John Updike

Frank Rich went on Oprah. That’s all that needs to be said for why his book is so popular these days. Add to that the fact that George Bush just took a “thumpin’” in the elections, and you see why the public is more and more interested in books like his one. But is it a good read?
So-so. It gets a little dull in several places and Rich’s rants can get tedious. What is particularly illuminating here though, is the information about the manipulation of the media by the government. This is a particularly important message for people to hear as too many of them believe that whatever is on TV is true and right. Whatever.
Yes, it’s a little heavy, but some of it is a worthwhile read. If you didn’t think the White House was corrupt before, you’ve got another think coming. I mean seriously, what government isn’t corrupt? And who in their right mind thinks Bush is innocent and has no hidden agenda? Not Frank Rich, and makes that loud and clear. Don’t be surprised if he ends up in an unfortunate “accident” and Bush does the eulogy at the funeral. Could they be that kind of corrupt? Is K-Fed going to disappear forever in about a year?